As per case facts, the Tribunal initially awarded the claimants a compensation of over 88 lakh rupees for the death of the deceased (aged 27 and an engineer), considering his ... full salary, 50% future prospects, and an 18 multiplier. The High Court significantly reduced this compensation to approximately 38 lakh rupees by excluding allowances, reducing future prospects to 40%, and imposing a flat 30% income tax deduction, leading the claimants to appeal. The question arose whether the High Court was justified in reducing the compensation payable to the appellants. Finally, the Supreme Court held that the High Court erred in excluding allowances from the income, as all emoluments and benefits should be included irrespective of taxability, and incorrectly reduced the future prospects to 40%. The correct multiplier was deemed to be 17 (as adopted by the High Court), and the future prospects addition should have been 50% since the deceased was below 40 and in permanent public sector employment. The compensation for loss of dependency was re-calculated based on net annual income after calculating actual income tax liability (not a flat 30% deduction) and adding 50% for future prospects, which, along with conventional heads, resulted in a total payable compensation of over 74 lakh rupees